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GPO 16 — 7464 



LECTURE 



ON THE 



CHINESE EMPIRE. 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



MECHANIC'S INSTITUT-E, 



Oil ThHi'sday Evening, January 2^i\u 1854, 



BY REV. DR. SCOTT, 






NEW ORLEANS : 

Fln.NTED AT THE - DAILY DELTA" STKAM JOB PKESS, DO AND 112 T'OYDRAS STRBBT. 

18 5 4. 






LECTURE 

N THE CHINESE EMPIRE, 

DELIVERED BEFORE THE MECHANIC'S INSTITUTE, 

On Thursday Evening, January 26th, 1854, 

BY REY. DE. SCOTT. 



Ladies and Gentlemen : " The powers that 
be " in this Hall have selected, out of several 
topics submitted to them, China, as the subject 
for the present address. And not a little have I 
been perplexed to know why this subject was 
preferred. Was it because the Spirits, who, I 
am told, frequent this place, informed them that 
I knew very little about China, and that the 
best way to teach me something of it, was to set 
me lecturing about it? It is true, indeed, that I 
know but little Chinese — only two words, I be- 
lieve, tea and junk; and the first is rather sug- 
gestive of cosy nerves at a petite soiree, and the 
other calls up much more vivid recollections of 
Missouri venison than anything pertaining to 
the " Flowery Kingdom." Or was this subject 
selected because these worthy gentlemen are 
'•manifest destiny" men, and thought this plat- 
form might be a lifting oratory for the exten- 
sion of the area of freedom '! Or was this theme 
given me that it might become necessary for me 
to visit the " Celestials,-' according to the rule 
and practice applied to a distinguished author, 
of whom it is said, that he " wrote a book on 
Egypt, and then Avent to Egypt himself to see 
whether or not his book w^as true T' Whatever 
the motives were for assigning me this subject, 
rather than any of the others submitted, they 
were, doubtless, wise and good. Numerous 
considerations suggest points of interest in our 
theme. 

First, // is one befitting our times. The age of 
apathy is gone. The pall of superstition and pre- 
judice is rolled up. I^ations now arc neighbors. A 
fearful energy and force are now operating every- 
where. Revolutionary fires are smoulderiag 



under every throne in the old world. Kingdoms 
are about to clash against kingdoms, like 
stai's broken loose from their orbits. The great 
wave that rushed upon the shores of Europe, in 
1848, seems to have receded only to gather fresh 
strength, in order to return with greatly 
augmented force. We are called upon, there- 
fore, to lay aside all little narrow prejudices and 
views. And it is a palpable fact, that travel 
and commerce between nations is one of the best 
agencies by which the arts of peace and the 
kind offices of christianized civilization can be 
advanced among the great nations of the human 
family. 

The advancement of human thought, far and 
wide extensions of the horizon of human fra- 
ternity, are the prominent characteristics of 
our day. Nothing more effectively removes 
prejudices, and local jealousies and narrow views 
among men, than intercourse with their fellow- 
men of other cities, countries and nations. 
Even the acquisition of a tongue, foreign to our 
native one, liberalizes the mind. Charles the 
V said, " that every new language a man ac- 
quired made him a new man.'' It introduces him 
to new thoughts, and into modes of thought 
peculiar to another nation, as a means of mak- 
ing us acquainted with distant countries, next 
to a personal acquaintance with them by trade 
and travel amongst them, the reading of books 
of travel and history, is the most important 
and agreeable. And this, of course, should al- 
ways be done v/ith the use of a globe or atlas, 
and geographical dictionary, so that distinct 
ideas may be impressed upon the mind as to the 
localities of mountain ranges, and rivers, and 



their relative positions. It i* possible in thi? ] 
■way to be a universal traveler, and have ac- . 
curate knowledge of all the chief nations of the \ 
vrorld, ■without ever lea"ving one's own country, j 
There are advantages, ho^wever, in personal I 
observation, combined 'with this kind of careful ! 
study, that are of great importance. ; 

Secondly. — Our subject is large enough to de- ' 
mand some consideration. Indeed, it is so large ; 
that I am sadly perplexed ho-w to approach it, i 
or on which side to "iry to climb it. The Chi- 
nese empire forms one of the most extensive do- . 
miBions ever swayed by a single power in any 
age, or any part of the "world. Within its lim- ' 
its is every variety of soil and climate. It is • 
watered by numerous rivers, which drain and I 
irrigate it, and furnish the means of unusual in- ; 
temal intercom-se. It T)roduces within its own 
borders everything necessary for the comfort, 
support and delight of its inhabitants. It is 
more independent of " the rest of mankind,*' 
than any other country on the globe. It has, | 
within itself, sufficient for satisfying the wants 
of its vast population. Its civilization audits 
government have been developed under its ovm 
institutions and ■without reference to any other 
country. Its language, genius and literature 
are original. And its numerous population are 
noted for industry, docility, peaceable and pe 
culiar habits. All the information that we can- 
get of the personal, social, moral and political 
condition of so large a branch of the human fam- 
ily, must be both insti-iictive and entertaining 
to the curious, inquiring and benevolent. And 
aU the more so, because this vast empire for 
centuries has held a middle place between ci^vi- 
lization and barbarism. It is the most civilized 
Pagan nation that has existed in modern times. 

And yet, perhaps, no people on the globe have 
been more subjected to ridic-ale than the Chi- 
nese. They have been regarded as "the apes of 
Europeans," and then- civilizatioii such as it is, 
their arts, laws and government considered as 
the bm'lesque of ours. The names of their towns 
and rivers, then* di'ess and fashions, their uten- 
sils, festivals, religion and usages, and even the 
physiognomy, the Creator has given them — 
everything Chinese has been made the subject 
of a pun, or the object of a laugh. The traveler, 
or lecturer about China, is expected to talk of 
an uninteresting, grotesque, and uncivilized 
"pig-eyed" people — "an" umbrella race,'" '"long- 
tailed celestials, at once conceited" to the eye- 
brows, dull, ignnvant and alTno'4, uuimprovablej 



If, then, any of you have come hither to hear :i 
long-faced, black-coat account of 

'■■virtndarina with yellow bvittons, uandin? you conserves oT 
suails; 

Smart young men about Canton in nanlseen tights and pea- 
cock's tails, 

With many rare and di-eadfitl dainties, as kitten cutlets, 
puppy pies; 

Bird-nest sonp, whirii so convenient! every bnsb'aronnd stip- 
piies:— '■ 

I am under the necessity of disappointing you. 
My taste does not run in the "soup'' line. 

Our information concerning the Chinese em- 
pire has but just commenced. And though it is 
but a lew years since anything was kno^wn ■with 
tolerable accuracy concerning it. now it draw> 
the gaze of Christendom. 

The few Chinese seen in the seaports o; 
Europe and America, are not a fair sample of 
the " Celestials." They should be seen as they 
are at home, if we would comprehend their na- 
tionality. We should see them walking in 
satin shoes, with white soles of paper, or float- 
ing through the streets in gowns of sUk, with 
waving fans painted ■with extracts of poets two 
thousand years older than Chaucer, and from 
philosophers perhaps three thousand years prior 
to Lord Bacon. And when we see the Chinese 
' gentlemen, we are told, ^7e shall find them the 
' " Yankees of the East."— that we shall be aston- 
[ ished at thek refinement, intelhgence and enter- 
: prise — that they are gentlemen in their address, 
: shi-ewd in diiving a bargain, acute as diplomats, 
1 and possessed of an extensive and polished 
! literature. JVous vcrr&ns. 
' For many centuries, China was known to 
' Europe only by vague traditions and antiquated 
I descriptions. And the traditions concerning 
' it only served to thicken the darkness in which 
j the inquirer was wandering, and the descrip- 
' tions given were vague and totally unworthy ot 
i confidence. Most of them were written for a 
' penny a line, or to reheve a heated brain, or 
: to excite national enterprise, and wi-itten by men 
; who had never traveled through any of those 
: eastern lands. Even Marco Polo never entered 
I China, and if Oliver Goldsmith had ever cross- 
'• ed the great wall, he would never have written 
! " The Citizen of the World." It was bymean< 
■ of the Portuguese navigators who succeeded Tas- 
^ CO de Gama, that Europe first received any 
i certain information of the situation, extent and 
I splendor of China. The sources of the informa- 
; tion of our day concerning this vast portion of 
: our globe, are from ambassadors, exploring ex- 
peditions, under the patronage of enlightened 
( rovpvnments. travelers, merchants, and, most of 



all, from the personal exploration^! and labors of j 
Christian missionaries. j 

By glancing at this map, which is the best 
one I have been able to procure, and for which j 
we are indebted to American missionaries, you : 
will see that China extends from within 18° at 
the Equator to 56° north latitude. Its breadth 
is 2100 miles, and its length 3350, or according 
to some, 4000 miles. That is, a length of 77 de- 
grees of longitude by a breadth of 40 degrees of 
latitude. McCulloch estimates it at 5,300.000 
square miles, others say seven millions. 

The best authors agree in putting down the 
population at 400,000,000, or aboiit half of the 
human family. The form of the empire ap- 
proaches a rectangle, and it is diificult to trace 
its/'joundaries, especially on the western fron- 
ti/r. The circuit of the whole empire is 12,550 
/iiles, or about half the cii'cumference of the 
/globe. It is about one-third of the continent, 
and one-tenth of the habitable globe ; and next 
to Eussia, is the largest empire that has ever 
existed on the earth. A moment's comparison 
may give us a more distinct idea of its size': 
Russia is nearly 6000 miles in length by an aver- 
age breadth of only 1500 miles, and measures 
7,725,000 square miles, or one-seventh of the 
land of the globe. As it regards large portions 
of Eussia, of the British possessions in Africa, 
India and Australia, they are either absolutely 
iminhabitable, or incapable of supporting a very 
large population, while the greater part of 
China and of our own temtory is susceptible of 
cultivation, and capable of subsisting a dense 
population. The Chinese territory is equal to 
all of the United States and Mexico, and in 
extent of culture and population, far beyond 
them. The^ boundaries of the United States are 
so migratory, like those of the British Empire in 
the East, that I cannot give the number of 
square miles belonging to either of them. 

There are several great mountain ranges in 
the interior of China, and on its north and 
west boundaries, through which there are but 
few passes that would admit an army. The 
empire may be divided into the mountainous 
country, the hilly country, and the great plain. 
The coasts are rocky, and indented with nome- 
rous harbors and mouths of river. Its moun- 
tains and hills are in several large districts 
covered with immense forests of tall trees, and 
contain large beds of coal. The valleys and 
river banks are extremely fertile, i ts numerous 
lakes, hke its rivers, are filled with fish and 



birds. It has, I believe, all the animals of 
Em-ope, with the addition of the camel, lion, 
tiger, and elephant. The Bactrian, or two- 
humped camel, wanders vrild over the sandy 
deserts of Mongolia. There are also numerous 
wild asses and horses in some parts of the em- 
pire. All the usual domestic animals, and a 
numerous class of wild fur animals, are found 
there. The fowls are exceedingly numerous, 
sj)ecimens of which are to be seen in this city, 
and its pheasants are of world-wide celebrity. 
Their geese, ducks, and fowls, are the best-dis- 
ciplined in the world. It is said., they all come 
home at night from the canals, rivers and lakes 
at a given signal. Reptiles, fishes, and insects, 
are in quantities immeasurable, but amply suffi- 
cient to feed and to punish the children of 
Sinim, as the genuine descendants of Adam. 
The flora of China is a field yet unexplored. 
You know that the tea-idarit stands at the head 
of its botany. There are also three kinds of 
oranges, most delicious, which are said not to 
grow in any other country. Their fruit-trees 
are exceedingly numerous. They have cinna- 
mon, nutmegs, and white cabbage ; onions, 
beans, turnips, and indigo. They have yams, 
sugar-cane, and bamboo ; sarsaparilla, cloves, 
and camphor. They hgve potatoes, rhubarb, 
cotton, rice, flax, and mulberry. Agriculture 
receives the highest honors of the Government. 
The Emperor himself annually confers upon it 
the highest dignity and encom'agement. 

Its minerals are scarcely known to geologists; 
but it is certain that China abounds in tin and 
silver mines, coal, lead and iron, copper, rock 
salt, topazes, jaspers, chalcedonies, andprecioivs 
gems. Instruments and vessels of gold are 
found in their ancient tumuli. The art of min- 
ing is believed to have been in use among the 
Mongolians from a very remote age. The silver 
mines are believed to be abundant, but are not 
much worked. There are also gold mines in tlie 
I country. Granite, porphyry and various kinds 
of marble abounds, and is easily obtained. Chi- 
nese granite is used extensively in building 
houses in San Francisco. As miners, they are 
believed to be the most persevering and skillful 
in the world. It is said that about thirty thou- 
sand Chinese, chiefly miners, are already in 
California, and that a number are on their way 
to the Tennessee iron-works. It is certain that 
i as long ago as the days of Sir Stamford EaflQes, 
j the Chinese were celebrated for their skill and 
: success in mining. And even when Alexander 



the Great invaded Thibet and India, the rich 
products of this part of Asia gxeatly excited the 
Greeks. And one of the most carious docu- 
ments I have ever seen, is the customhouse 
catalogue of articles of merchandise that had to 
pay duty at Alexandria when the Eomans go- 
verned Egypt. Among these articles a number 
are recognized as the products of China. The 
revenues of this empire are variously stated, 
but it is believed they amount to upwards of 
three hundred millions of dollars, while our own 
is perhaps less than seventy miliious. 

THEIR ART AKD I^"PUSTRY. 

Their numerous canals are an astonishment to 
travelers, for their length and commodiousness. 
They are deep enough to carry large vessels at 
all seasons. The vessels are, however, dragged 
by men. Their banks are lined with stone quays. 
There is probably more miles of transit by ca- 
nals in China than in all the rest of the world. 
Few works in any age or country can be men- 
tioned in comparision with the Imperial Ccuial. 
The main trunk is 700 miles long, but by means 
of lakes and rivers connected with it, goods and 
passengers have an inland transit across the 
country from Pekinto f!anton, a distance of up- 
wards of 1600 miles- -or about the distance from 
New Orleans to the Pacific Ocean, on our rail- 
road route. There is also a com.munication, by 
means of this canal and its branehes, from the 
capital to nearly every large lo\;-i\ in the em- 
pire. 

A portion of this canal was built in the 7th 
century, and the rest of it in the 13th century, 
under a grandson of Genghis-Khan. At one 
time 300,000 men were at vrork on it. It was 
made not only for the purpose of internal navi- 
gation, but also for draining some parts of the 
interior, and irrigating others. Its artificial 
level is sometimes 20 feet above the surface of 
the country. Its flood-gates, bridges, villages, 
and the cultivated fields that line its banks, 
have excited the liveliest admiration of all trav- 
elers. The plain of this canal is the most pop- 
ulous spot of the earth. The population is 
more than two-thirds of all Europe. This plain 
extends from the great wall north of Peking to 
the confluence of the great rivers Yeang-tze- 
Keang and Kaie-Kiaug, containing more than 
200,000 square miles, and is seven times as large 
asthe garden of Europe, Lombardy, with which 
it may, in many respects, be favorably compared. 



THE GREAT WALL. 

It was to protect then- fertile and populous 
valley on the North,~the Great Wall was buUt 
about two thousand years ago, or two hundred 
years before Christ. This wall is can-ied over 
mountains, rivers and valleys, to a distance of 
about fifteen hundred miles, which will, prob- 
ably be the length of the Opelousas railroad 
when it reaches San Diego. This wall was built 
of earth, brick and stone, with occasional terra- 
ces and towers. Its average height, according 
to Lord Macartney's embassy, is twenty feet. 
Dr. Bowring, of England, has made a curious 
calculation, which shows that if all the bricks, 
stones and masonry of Great Britain were gath- 
ered together, they would not be able to furnish 
materials enough for the wall of Chma, and 
that all the buildings in London put together, 
would not make the towers snd turrets which 
adorn it. From these stupendous works of the 
Chinese, we should learn that canals and roads 
across the Isthmus, and from the Mississippi to 
the Pacific are possible and practicable, and are 
an imperious necessity. 

The architecture of China, like many of their 
habits and customs, is unique, differing from 
that of the rest of Asia and Irom Europe. They 
have numerous royal palaces, temples, bridges, 
dwelling houses, triumphal arches and sepal- 
chi-es, which are built of bricks, scented woods, 
alabaster, marble, granite, porphyry, bamboo 
and porcelain. And many of them are inlaid 
with ivory, copper, gold, silver and mother-of- 
pearl, as were the palaces of Solomon and of 
Babylon and Ninevah, of Peru and Anahuac 
Within the city of Peking alone, tliere are said 
to be ten thousand temples, many of which are 
beautiful and magnificent. The gresat Porcelain 
tovrer is at Nankin- It is nine stories high. A 
Pagoda has been built at Kew, in England, by 
Sir William Cambers to represent it. Through- 
out the country many triumphal arches are 
seen. And although, Confucius btrictlj'' pro- 
hibited idols, or the worship of anything but 
the Supreme Being, 3'et there are more than 
owi thousand five hundred and sixty temples in 
the Empire dedicated to him, and sixty-two 
thousand animals, pigs and rabbits nnnually 
sacrificed to his memory. 

I cannot close even this brief notice of their 
industrial arts without remindiug you that at 
least three of the most important inventions or 
discoveries of our race were known to the "Sons 
of Han" or of the "land of Sinim,"' long before 



they were kno-s^-n to Europe. I mean the art of 
printing, the composition of gunpowder, and 
the magnetic compass. And to these mnst be 
added the two remarkable raannfactones, of 
which tliey are the unquestioned inventors, the 
making of silk and of porcelain, the art of the 
latter remains to this day, a secret I believe, 
Imown only to the Chinese. It is now consider- 
ed certain that the art of printing was practised 
by the Chinese in the tenth century. And 
though they did not apply powder to guns, 
yet it is doubtless true, that they made powder 
from sulphur, saltpetre, and willow charcoal, 
and used it in fire-works, fire-crackers and the 
like for centuries before it was applied to fire- 
arms in Europe. And as early as 121 of our era, 
the magnetic compass, or the attractive* power 
of the loadstone, and its property of communi- 
cating polarity to iron is distinctly described 
in a Chinese dictionary finished in that year. 

The literature and peculiar habits of the Chi- 
nese I have not time to consider. The religion 
of the Mongolians, Mantchm'ians, and all the 
nations of Thibet is that of the Grand Llama, 
who is their Pope or Supreme Patriarch. The 
prevailing religion of China proper is that of 
Confucius. This is the State religion. The 
religion of Foh or Budha has also numerous fol- 
lowers. Budhism was introduced into China 
from Hindostan about the beglning of our era. 
A very large portion of the people hold to a 
system of manifold superstitions called Powism. 
They are full of the terrible rites and supersti- 
tions of idolatry. They worship ghosts and ani- 
mals, and believe in the transmigration of 
souls. Infanticide is common, and they are 
even charged with cannibalism. Their idols 
are everywhere. In their houses, in their 
streets, in the market places and theatres. The 
ignorant and the learned are idolaters. And 
the consequent moral degradation of the people 
is appalling, The great want of China for cen- 
turies has been a pm-e Chi-istianity. The Gov- 
ernment is despotic, and the Mandarins have 
ruled with "a red-hot rod of iron." All law 
proceedings are from ■written pleadings. Ques- 
tions in court are put by torture. Among them 
however, are numerous public institutions. In 
Shanghai is the "Hall of Universal Benevo- 
lence," which takes care of strangers and buries 
poor people. They have also hospitals and fre»i 
schools, in which the children are clothed as 
well as educated. Their school system is simple 
and well arranged. It is said that one of the 



causes that has led to the present revolution 
was the sale of degrees in their schools to such 
as had more money than brains. This was par- 
ticularly obnoxious, as Government offices are 
bestowed only on such as have passed by regular 
degrees through their schools. To resist this 
corruption and with the avowed purpose of ma- 
king Christianity the religion of the empire, a 
secret society was formed among the yovmg men, 
out of which has grown the present remarkable 
revolution of China. Time allows me to ay but 
little of 

THE ORIGIN OP THE CHIXESE. 

And even if this were the proper place, wo 
have not the authorities at hand for such an in- 
vestigation. Indeed, I regret to say, that, so 
far as I am acquainted with the libraries of the 
city, they do not furnish the scholar materials 
for such a discussion. I hope this city of bales 
and hogsheads, and ships and steamers, will not 
be many years Avithout libraries w'orthy of its 
revenues. I may not, then, now go into any de- 
tail of the proofs which go to show, that the 
Noah of the Hebrews is the Fohi of the Chinese 
Chronicles. While Shem, Ham, and Japhet 
went forth to Asia, Africa, and Europe, Noah 
and the rest of his family went eastward, and 
finally rested in the plains of China. Man has 
ever been a migratory animal, and in the early 
ages pre-eminently so. The tombs of nations 
have almost always been as distant in space 
from then- cradles as remote in time. The lin- 
gual roots and dialects, litera,ture, policy, his- 
tory, and traditions of China, as far as they 
prove anything reliable on the subject, go to 
prove the identity of Fohi with Noah. This is 
the opinion of the learned Calmet, and of the 
editor of his works, Dr. Taylor, and of Dr. Morri . 
son, and lin fact of almost every learned man 
with a reputation worthy of preserva,tion, who 
has written on the origin and emigrations of the 
races of mankind. One of our own mission aiies, 
(Rev. W. Speer,) formerly in China, but now la- 
boring among the emigrant Chinese in San 
Francisco — a scholar, and a man of fine abilities, 
who has published some admirable lectures on 
China — says: 

"The Chinese of oiir day are ii-om an empire as an- 
cient as tliat of Nineveh, as civilized as that of Egypt, 
as wealthy, and as controlling in the politics of the 
globe, as Great Britain — one that has stood from an 
early period after the deluge almost unknown to the 
fickle history of all the nations with which we have 
been acquainted, but ever augmenting, till it is now 



the most populous that has ever existed, and covers 
an area greater by one-half than the whole continent 
of Europe." — Chinese and California. 1854, Page 4. 

There is no doubt but the founding of the Chi- 
nese empire dates back near to the dispersion 
from Babel. I am aware that it has been said, 
that China was unknown to the writers of the 
Bible, and that the inference made from this 
statement is, that the Chinese are not descend" 
ants of Adam and Noah , but grew up on their 
OTSTi mountain slopes and river banks as their 
tea plants and frogs do; and a second inference 
from this learned assumption is against the 
Christian doctiine of the fall of man,, and the 
completeness of the remedial scheme for his re- 
covery through the mediation of the Son of God. 
I design not now to dwell on these points. It is 
sufficient to deny the truth of the assumed 
statepient, and the correctness of the inferences 
even if the statement were true. The most 
learned men, for centuries past, as well as those 
of our own day, believe that China was known 
to the ancients under the various names of 
" Sera,"' " Serica,'- " Sena,'" "Jin,'' " Djenia,"' 
" Sinae," "Tzinistae," " Sin,'' " Tchin." It is a 
fact, susceptible of the clearest proof, that these 
names for China were used for hundreds of years ' 
before our era, and for centuries after by the j 
Malays, Hindoos, Persians, Arabians, and other ■ 
nations of Asia. Mahommedan travelers in the 
ninth centmy called China " Sin."' This name 
"Sin" is the same word I'iSed in Isaiah, as learned : 
men believe, for China. It is pronounced by the ; 
Persians and Arabians Tchm. Maltebrun says ; 
that the " ' Sin' of the Bible was the ancient ge- \ 
neric name for all the nations of Thibet, China, | 
and India, east of the Ganges," — (42d Book.) I 
The inhabitants of India called the country east ' 
of them and south of Russia " Cathay" and ' 
"Chin:" and it was not till the seventeenth cen- 
tury, that it was ascertained that Cathay was i 
China, and that the great city of Cambalu was , 
identical with Peking. Several learned men have 
endeavored to prove that even the Greeks traded, 
through the Arabians, with China, under the ; 
name of " Sinim," and that the life of that trade 
was linen, cotton, and silk. 

CHINA AND AMERICA. 

It may be a more interesting point for you to- j 
consider the claims of the Chinese as the di s ' 
i.'overers of this continent, and the present grow- 
ing relationship between them and us. The 
Chinese, you are aware, dispute with the Jews, 
the Phenicians, the Welsh, the Irish, the North- 



. men, the Kamschatkans. and the Japanese the 
honor of having discovered and settled this new 
world. And when the consanguinity of orien- 
tal nations with its aborigines, and the teachings 
of their own legends, and the manners and in- 
stitutions 01 the races found on this continent 
by the discoverers from Spain are well consider- 
ed, it is believed there will remain but little 
i doubt that the tribes existing on this contment. 
; at the time of its discovery, were of Asiatic 
; origin. The progenitors of our aborigines doubt- 
less were adventurers and navigators of the nide 
: maritime population of the Asiatic coasts, cast 
' upon these shores by currents and winds : or 
borne hither, as Tartar traditions relate, upon 
: cakes of ice. Abundant testimony could be 
I given to prove that Orientals could have reach- 
i ed this continent thousands of years before any 
of the Western nations discovered it. " A know- 
; ledge," says Redfield, "of the winds and cur- 
rents of the Pacific ocean, will, I am convinced, 
serve to remove all mystery and aU doubt from 
': the once vexed question of the first peopling of 
; its islands from the Asiatic continent, and in 
spite of the long urged objection of the oppo- 
sition of the trade winds." It is but a short time 
since a Japanese junk was drifted all the way to 
the Sandwich Islands, with its surviving crew. 
And near the equator, the uorth-Trest monsoon 
of the Indian and Pacific oceans, for a portion 
of the year, furnish an additional facility for 
drifting from the Indian ocean to the American 
coast. Repeated and very recent instances 
prove that Chinese and Japanese are drifted in 
safety to this continent from their own shores 
and seas. Many learned men agree in beUeving 
that the resemblances between the manners, 
laws, arts and institutions of the Chinese and of 
the Peruvians and Aztecs are too numerous, 
striking and peculiar to be the effect of chance. 
To this day the newly ai-rived Chinaman and 
the Indian of the forest are the same in com- 
plexion. Nor is there wanting a remarkable 
resemblance between their dialects. The Chinese 
and the Toltec or Aztec tongues are believed . 
by eminent linguists, to have strong aflBnities. 
[Here Ur. Scott introduced eloquent and perti- 
nent quotations from Humboldt. Maltebrun, De 
Guig-nes, Scherer, Sir Charles Lyell, Saint 
Augustine, Bradford and Prescott, which we 
have not room to insert, to prove the extreme 
probability, if not absolute certainty that very 
old relations existed between Asia and America. 
He said that all the traditions of the aborigines 



of this continent, tlie traditious of Tartary and 
the liistorians of Cbinn favored this opinion. 
He believed that the Fusang of Chinese his- 
torians of the Sotitiicrn dynasty was North 
America. He expressed a hope that the analo- 
j<ies, resemblances and contrasts between China 
and Japan, on the one side, and of Peru and 
Mexico, on the other, would engage the atten- 
tion of some gentleman fond of historical studies, 
and bo presented before the Mechanics' Insti- 
tute. He ventured the prediction, that if ever 
the ■'secret of the origin, and time and the people 
by whom this continent was first discovered and 
populated, is brought to light by positive facts, 
it will be from historic records not yet discover- 
ed, or if known not read, among oriental na- 
tions, or from the ruins of Mexico, Central 
America and Pcni. And her<5 he recommended 
5^oung gentlemen arxJ ladies especially to study 
history. The works of our coiintrymen, living, 
Bancroft and Prescott are really more inter- 
esting and far more useful than any novel of the 
day. Truth is more entertaining than fiction. 
Dr. Scott also said, Ili.it in the pre^ient move- 
ment on this contineni to the Pacific, and the 
growth of commercini and social relations with 
the "Flowery Orient," he saw nothing but a 
renewal of an acquaini.tnce that wss so old that 
its existence had been sorgotten. And that this 
was perhaps an illustration of the saying: of 
Holy Writ, that there i-^, nothing new under the 
ciun, for tha,t which i^'. i^ what has been — or per- 
haps thi.s is a proof of the doctrine of philoso- 
phers, aijout ever recui-!"ing circles and returning 
correspondent cycles. And that, therefore, tlie 
manifest destiny polarity, that draws us on- 
ward to the East, th rough the gateway of the 
furthest West, is tbo philosophical necessity 
that Providence haf: laid upon us, to \i'ork out 
the evolutions and evenly of our cycle.] 

THE CHINESE KBTOLUTIOX. 

It is believed that Christianity was lirst intro- 
duced into China by Syrian converts in the be- 
ginning of the seventh century. Some, indeed, 
believe that the Gospel was preached in that 
country by some of the Apostles or by their im- 
mediate successors. In modern times, learned 
Frenchmen have had the honor of opening up 
the treasm-es of China to the literati of Europe. 
Klaproth published in 1832, a geography of 
Corea, Loochoo, and the Benin Islands. Mission 
stations, and schools, and printing ijresseswere 
established as near to China as they could be. 



Able and pious men set themselves to the task 
of learning the idegraphic language of this 
empire, and succeeded. Marshman, Medhurst. 
and Mon'ison prepared grammars and dictiona 
ries, and tsanslated tracts, and finally the Holy 
Scriptures at Malacca, Serampore, Singapore, 
and other ports where fiicilities were enjoyed 
for learning the language and having inter- 
course with the country. And it is truly aston- 
ishing how much has been done by a few men 
in a few years in acquiring the language of Chi- 
na, and the preparation of a Christian literature 
for it. And it is with some satisfaction that in 
this field we see American energy and intelli- 
gence in honorable rivalry with that of Great 
Britain. The profoundest essay, it is allowed, 
that has yet been ^Titten on Chinese philosophy 
was written by Dr. Peter Duponceau, President 
of the American Philosophical Society in Phila- 
delphia ; the a,blest and soundest essays on the 
translation of religious terms into Chinese, 
have been written by Eev. Dr. Boone, American 
missionary at Shanghai ; the clearest and by 
far the most complete and able work on China 
that has ever appeared, is the work of an Amer- 
ican Printer, missionary at Canton — I mean the 
book called the " Middle Kingdom"' by S. W. 
Williams. The best commentaries on the Bible 
and treatises on educational and reugions sub- 
jects printed in Chinese, have been written by 
Americans, and about two-thirds of the entire 
number of printers, teachers and missionaries 
laboring For the diiinsion of true religion in that 
empire are from this country. And the fastest 
steamer that now, or ever has been in Chinese wa- 
ters, is from a New York ship yard. These facts 
are not now named in the tone of an extrava- 
gant euiogium. They are named to make us 
feel how great is our responsibility, and to ex- 
cite our gratitude to Providence for calling us 
to put forth our exertions to introduce civiliza- 
tion, commerce and science with the Gospel to 
so many millions of our race. 

In an age of extraordinary excitement, we see 
the finger of God visible in two great movements 
— of which Constantinople is the centre of one. 
and China of the other. Stupenduous occur- 
rences are actually taking place that startle us 
with the importance of the great moral crisis 
that seems to be at hand. Our globe is no long- 
er the scene of conmionplace, prosaic events, 
but has become the stage of marvels. The gates 
of China, hermetically sealed for thousands of 
years, are opened by no mere mortal hand: bat 



ttot before the same haad had peopled the soli- 
tudes of the great Southern Ocean, and cities 
and nations with the language and commerce, 
the literature, the religion and the iastitutiona 
of liberty had arisen to meet the salutations of 
the celestial empire rdth responsive salaams. 
Suddenly a new notion , as it vrere, has sprang 
up on the opposite shore of the ocean that 
washes Chinese territory; and thither, as if 
drawn by a golden spell, or sent on some special 
mission by Providence, are gathered the surplus 
hosts of the world. 

The revolution going on in China is attracting 
to itself the Used and earnest gaze of the civil- 
ized world, and of no part of the world more 
than of the United States. And it would be sur- 
prising if it were otherRdse. In the time of its 
occurrence, its antecedents, its accompaniments, 
and in its suddenness and yet maturity of prep- 
:i ration, in its esciting causes, and in extent, 
iui'l in moral grandeur, and in its social and po- 
litical and religious^results, not merely upon that 
vast empire, but upon all the ancient despotisms 
and effete superstitious of the East, it has no 
historic parallel. It is astonishing that a na- 
tion so isolated, so stereotyped, so saperstitious, 
so old fogyish, so petrified, should have burst its 
own cerements and efiected its own resurrection. 
This is whao philosophers have said never cculd 
take place. This is the moral miracle of the 
nineteenth century, and indeed, of our race. And 
in this fact we see proof of the infinite benevo- 
lence of a Supreme Providence. This fact 
should confirm our fid;, a la the prophecies of the 
holy seers of the Bible, and of the martyred pa- 
triots of former ages, who died triumphing in 
the glorious hopes of t.lie world's regeneration. 
After some inevitable convulsions, the overthrow 
of the Manchoos will open up a full trade for 
Europe and America, with about half the popu- 
lation of the globe, vrith which now they have 
but a fractional intercourse. The Chinese, we 
are told, are industrious. Their resources are 
immense, and among them trade is universal, 
and commercial reputation a proverb. K a 
merchant does not square up all his accounts on 
the last day of the year, it is said, he has no 
credit for the aext year. There is scarcely' an 
article of our machinery or manufacture, but 
will be immediately called for over the , plains 
;iud hills, and along the river banks of China. 
With judicious energy, I doubt not but that in a 
few years, our exports to that country, instead 
of being a? now, some five or eight millions an- 



nually, may reach one hundred millions of dol" 
lius. And now at the very moment we are ex- 
pecting Japan to open her doors to civilization, 
the death-blow is given to the greatest of Asiat 
ic despotisms, and onr institutions are invited 
in. The blindness of old fogyism itself , cannot 
help discerning the incalculable fruits which 
these events are destined to produce on the 
vrorld. The wildest speculations on their ex- 
tent will probably fall short of the truth. 

Christianity, tha,t has been germinating lor 
many years in Sabbath Scliools and printing offi- 
ce3,has at last burst forth into the light . It was but 
yesterday we read iiow the aged Roman rent bis 
board with grief when he saw the broken statues 
of Jupiter and Diana. '^^Tiat, then, do you im- 
agiue are the feelings of the proud Chinaman as 
he sees Ms idols, headless and disgraced, float- 
ing down the Yeang-tse-Keang ? In the womb 
of this Chinese revolution are borne the over- 
throw of the reigning dynasty, of idolatry, and 
the introduction of Chiistianity, and with this 
freedom of conscience, morality, social liberty 
and commercial prosperity. The door is virtually 
open to all kinds of influences, political, scien- 
tific and religion:?. Free thought and free grace 
may now flow iu a mighty current upon China. 
Accordingly the London Missionary Society have 
resolved to send one million of testaments to 
China as fast a.s they can be printed and shipped. 
A corresponding zeal, I hope, will be manifested 
in America. As the conversion ■ of the Turk> 
would destroy Mohammedanism, and as Mr. 
Layaid tells us the American Missionaries have 
already done a great work in the Ottoman Em- 
pire, it may yet be true, as Lamartine once 
smartly said, that '' Turkey would be destroyed 
for the want of Turks," and in that case, what 
will the great Czar do ? So China is about to lie 
overturned for the want of Chinamen. 

China,, as I have said, has been a great petrifi- 
cation — an old geological formation, in which we 
see t^e enlightenment of the world thousands of 
years since. For centuries she was like the 
self-taught hermit, who fancied himself possessed 
of all the knowledge and strength of the world . 
They called their country the centre of the uni" 
verse, and all other people outside barbarians. 
She was cramped and fettered like the feet of her 
pretty women, living, but without growth— and 
yet within this huge statue of petrified exterior 
there throbbed, as we find to our astonishment, 
the heart of a great nation, and along its vein>: 
flowed the blood of four hundred millions, that 



11 



may yet be republican Christians. There may 
be, there will be blunders, failures and back sets 
ia the pre>ent vevolutiou. Caspor Hauser did 
not walk when lirst removed from his dark cell. 
"\Ye cannot expect the Chinese to have a perfect 
government or a perfect Christianity at once. 
But the right beginning has been made ; and 
the influence of this beginning on Asia is beyond 
calculation. Suppose the millions of China en- 
lightened republicans, and what v.'ould be the 
effect on the Eastern Continent ? There are al- 
ready two great batteries playing upon the strong 
fortresses of ignorance, despotism and paganism 
One is in Europe and the other America. Their 
shots are, however, necessarily long shots. Nev- 
ertheless, millions of millions of explosive shells 
have been already thrown amidst the enemies 
works. Our mounted batteries, that have the 
longest sweep, are om* postal communications, by 
which letters, remittances, statistics of growth 
and prosperity, and cheering words are sent to 
those that sit in darkness and giind ia the mills 
of tyranny. Our State papers, printing presses, 
secular and missionary, and our metallic wires 
and merchant ships, are batteries that throw ef- 
fective shells into their arsenals Avhich are daily 
exploding. How then vdll the thrones and palaces 
of effete superstitious and crushing tyraunies 
ciTimble and full to pieces throughout Asia and 
Eastern Europe when a new battery, manned hy 
an ovenvhelming force, shall be erected in China, 
and play upon them near at hand and upon theh- 
unguarded side ! 

The Chinese, as we have t-een, are immensely 
.superior to all the inhabitants of the Indian Ar- 
chipelago, except the Japanese. The distant 
East, as far back as our traditions go, has always 
lieen regarded with a most covetous look. The 
Arabians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, English, 
Dutch, French, Portugese and Russians have all 
ia'tjored to establish a flourishing trade with 
Asia and China. And now that Providence has 
opened up a way to the '' Celestial Empire,'" not 
across the isthmus of iSuez, nor by the Persian 
Gulf, nor around the terrible African Cape, but 
across our own Continent and from our own Pa- 
<.'ific Tyre, a nearer, easier, cheaper, safer and 
far more advantageous than any that has ever 
been known to Europe, we must go forward 
and do our duty to ourselves and mankind. Were 
I so fortunate asto reach the ear of our Minister 
to China, or of our Government, I should plead 
most earnestly that our trade with the East 
thould be encouraged liberally and promptly. 



Our steamers and clippers should at once do tDe 
carrying of mails and passengers from. Europe 
to Australia , Asia and China. Trade vrith the 
East from the days of the great Phai aohs has 
enriched the emporiums of Central and Western 
Asia, and of Europe. We must have a large 
share of this trade. Is it not for the want of it 
that Palmyra, Petra, Baalbeck and Tyre are in 
ruins, and many of the emporiums of fashion and 
power of a former age " have gone to jungle," 
and cities once civilized and powerful, are "like 
Carthage, mere nests of banditti." Is it not for 
the want of commerce, which calls forth the la- 
bors of the farmer, the trader and the mechanic, 
that Athens, Rome, Genoa and Venice have lost 
their glory ? Any one who has visited the Chi- 
nese Museum of Paris needs not to bo informed 
of the excellence of their arts. In my mind there 
is not a doubt but that our enterprising cities 
may now enrich themselves until they shall sur- 
pass the emporiums of the East and of Europe 
by trading with Asia and the islands of the Pa- 
cific. They have opportunities that have never 
been enjoyed before. The porcelain of Kiang-si 
may be wrought out of the quartz of the Alle- 
ghany, the Cordilleras and the Sierra Nevada. 
And as the silks of Persia and Turkey are now 
woven in Vienna, Paris and London, so will the 
raw material and skiU of Canton be transferred 
to the factories of Georgia, Alabama, Lowell and 
Pittsburg. The Chinese are apt scholars and 
artisans. They soon learn our art of ship-build- 
ing. Some of them in oui" ship yards, and in the 
service of our mail steamship companies, have 
akeady acquired the art of building vessels and 
of managing steamers. There is stationed at 
Canton a fine man-of-war, built for the Chinese 
Government by a native, who served his time as 
an apprentice to an American mechanic. There 
are a few things that we want in order to our 
true national independence and complete pros- 
perity. We must learn to think for ourselves, 
and cut adrift from all European standards, for- 
mulas and precedents. There is no model for us 
in Europe. We must cease to be the echo or our 
mother country. We must have complete com- 
mand of the Gulf at our door. We must have 
interoceanic communications between the gi'eat 
oceans on our West and East. Our trade (ex 
port and import) with the Mediterranean should 
be direct, and without salvage to Europeans, or 
even to Northern cities, and to perfect our com* 
merce and complete the means of our national 
defence, we must have a raikoad from the Mis- 



12 



sissippi to the Pacific, aud steiimships from onr 
possessions on that ocean to every part of South 
America, Asia, Oceanica, Aiistralia. Japan and 
China. Upwards of four thousand years ago the 
two civilizations of the human race, like Abra- 
ham and Lot, separated on the plains of Asia, 
and they have traveled ever since in opposite 
directions around the world, until they are now 
meeting again on the coasts and islands of the 
Pacific Ocean. The re-discovery of this conti- 
nent upwards of 350 yeai-s ago, and the organi- 
zation here of a powerful nation with all the ap- 
pliances of art and civilization, and the highest 
forms and institutions of liberty and religion, 
and the gi-owth of an immense v»"hale fishing 
marine in the Pacific, a marine that exceeds that 
of all other nations, and then the re-discovery of 
gold where the proud Castilian could not find it, 
and the consequent precipitation of thousands of 
chivalrous spirits upon the Pacific shore, and 



the unparalleled gvovrth of a nation whose ves- 
sels, combined with the trade ah-eady existing 
from the Atlantic cities to China, and with the 
whale fisheries, make at once the Pacific an 
American ocean. Thus" has Providence, 

•' Ever working on the socUl plan ■ 

made events, revolutions, discoveries aud inven- 
tions preliminary to the sablime result now so 
distinctly in view, that a prophet's ken is not 
required to see it, all take place in their time 
and after their kind, so as most effectually t'> 
j work out, at last, the restoration of the unity oi' 
! the human family, and establish the reign of the 
! liberty, equality and fraternity, not of infidel Pied 
I Republicans and disorganizing Sociaii^-^is, but o 
; HIM "who spake as never did man ;'• of lib- 
: erty, equality and fraternity, issuing, not from 
the dreaming poets and novelists of Paris as the 
^echoing centre of Europe, but from Jerusalem. 
i the real centre of the universe. 




